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Wednesday, June 2, 2010

My book taste picture....

Simon at Stuck in a Book, who is the source of many good ideas, has had me wracking my brain for at least two days. His challenge for those who choose to accept it is to find an image which sums up one’s reading taste. If possible, we are to avoid including a picture of a book or a specific character.

After a considerable amount of rumination, I settled upon the wonderful From up the Rise by Stanley Spencer. This painting forms part of Spencer’s Church House project in which he imagined a series of biblical scenes in his home village of Cookham. This painting reflects my preference for twentieth century literature with ancient themes, English settings, an emphasis on character and a profound feeling for the oddness of everyday life. It is domestic but it is not narrow. It features the ordinary but of course concerns the extremely extraordinary. It is very human but not at all mundane. The villagers in the picture are about to witness Christ’s first miracle at the marriage at Cana. I am an interested sceptic when it comes to religion, but I do like a bit of magic – so here it is, and not a cup cake in sight.

Do you have a picture that sums up your reading? If you do let’s see....

Stanley Spencer is one of my favourite artists, this picture challange thing has been great. It's fascinating seeing the pictures chosen not least for the pleasure of 'getting it' with every one of them so far.

I must admit I didn't really know about Stanley Spencer, though I've heard of him. Given his obvious sense of humour and the social commentary aspect, I couldn't help thinking of Tim Cockburn, a contemporary artist who works in Fife. Fascinating, thanks for that. M

Hannah, thank you for visiting my blog and my "Ten Best Places to Read" post. As a result I have now discovered the delights of your beautiful blog, so I suppose I owe gratitude to Simon indirectly for that! And to you again, for leading me to have a delicious browse among the works of Stanley Spencer. The picture you've chosen somehow reminds me of the people of Underworld in the Narnia book The Silver Chair (but maybe that's just me, and has to do with my having a cat called Marsh-wiggle). All the best, and it's nice to "meet" you.

Very cool post! I can't begin to even imagine a picture that would sum up my reading tastes, but now I am going to be thinking about it and looking around. If I come up with something fairly representative I will have to share it with you!!

About Me

Greetings and welcome to my blog! I am a voracious reader and adventurous traveller with a passion for the book-less-read and the intriguing image. This blog is a record of my life with books and pictures.